InterContinental Xi’an North-Commune Launches 西安经开洲际酒店·源·咖啡全日制餐厅

Article By Thabo Jaffe

1F, InterContinental Xi’an North, No.120, Feng Cheng 8 Road.
凤城八路120号西安经开洲际酒店1楼
(029) 8665 9692
Wednesday -Sunday
11:30am-2:30pm
5:30pm-9:00pm

Average Price per Person /人均消费: 198-328RMB

I’ll be the first to say that I barely go to the north of the city. What lies between Daming Gong and the high-speed railway is quite a mystery to me. So, I hopped on the Line 2 subway headed north. Conveniently located where Line 2 and Line 4 meet, The InterContinental Hotel is easy to reach.

Buffet. This word makes me both excited and a little worried. As a person whose eyes are much bigger than their stomach, I just can’t seem to win. If the buffet is amazing, I’m a little sad that I couldn’t eat more. If the buffet is underwhelming (read overpriced), I feel like I’ve wasted a fair amount of money. This particular evening left me wishing I had a secret spare room in my stomach.

Enter Commune, the hotel’s all-day buffet-style restaurant. A spacious warmly-lit room, with a separate dessert section, the restaurant is of a modern/minimalist styling, with comfort in mind. It definitely makes you feel classy for eating there, but doesn’t make you feel out of place if you’re rocking torn jeans and a slightly stretched out t-shirt.

Now for the food. The selection here is varied, and though not the biggest selection I’ve seen, that’s not a bad thing. There’s Chinese food; a flaming BBQ section with prime cuts of beef and other meats, grilled kaorou-style or thick steak cuts; a seafood/Japanese section with various rolls, sashimi, shellfish, crab, lobster and so on. The dessert has its own separate area to house a chocolate fondue fountain with many options to dip into it; candy-store type sweet dispensers to help you top your freshly-made ice cream; jellies, custards, beautiful cakes of all shapes and sizes. If you’re concerned about drinks, it’s pretty much all there – beers, wines, sodas. As much as I could, I tried to have many small bits of everything, but there’s only so much stretch to a t-shirt before it becomes a part of your “at-home-only” fashion line.

I would definitely recommend the steak, as it’s not that often you can ask for a medium rare steak at a buffet and actually get a medium rare steak. While the food is of course delicious and the décor a comfortable elegant feel to it, the standout here has to be the service. The restaurant being in an international hotel means you’ll have no issues with English. Furthermore, the staff were very attentive and accommodating to anything we needed. I will definitely be going north again soon.

If you have a chance to try this place, let us know at reviews@xianease.com.

Thabo is an avid explorer and less-than-worldly South African, always in search of new experiences. Stopping just short of suicidal, he’s a true Yes Man. You can reach him via email at thabojaffe@gmail.com